The Reverend John Paul

12:01AM GMT 18 Jan 2003

The Reverend John Paul, who died on Thursday aged 72, exercised a notable ministry in the City of London as Rector of St James Garlickhythe, which was threatened with closure after a huge crane collapsed on it in 1991.

The Wren church resembled a bomb site after the crane, which was carrying concrete cantilever balance blocks nearby, collapsed on its south wall in Upper Thames Street; the damage, it was pointed out, was far worse than that caused by the bomb which landed, but failed to explode, on the same spot during the Second World War.

Most of the box pews were destroyed, and there was some doubt about the insurers' views. But Paul, who noted that the bust of Thomas Cranmer remained on its plinth amid the destruction, made an early promise that the building would be restored.

Despite some reports of pressure having to be applied by livery companies, this was quickly fulfilled.

Although also rector of St Andrew-by-the-Wardobe, Paul had a resident population of no more than 200. He became a chaplain of livery companies, organised high-powered lectures for those seeking intelligent expositions of the Christian faith, and provided a headquarters for the Prayer Book Society. Deeply attached to the Book of Common Prayer, which he always used for services in his churches, Paul recognised the Prayer Book Society's need of a London headquarters and offered an office in St James Garlickhythe.

In 1989 a Thomas Cranmer Award was inaugurated, to mark the 500th anniversary of the birth of the architect of the Prayer Book; the first award, arranged jointly by Charles Moore, then editor of The Spectator, and P D James, the crime writer, was presented by the Prince of Wales to a young person for the best presentation of Prayer Book material. Since then it has been an annual event at one of the two Wren churches.

John Wilfred Paul was born in Sydney on March 7 1930. He went to a variety of schools as his father moved around Australia opening dry cleaning businesses, then to Dauntsey's in Wiltshire. He next entered St John's Theological College at Morpeth, New South Wales.

Having become a Licentiate in Theology, Paul was ordained at the early age of 21 and spent six years as a curate in Australian parishes before coming to England in 1957 to be a curate at the Church of the Ascension at Mitcham, south London.

From 1959 until 1965 he was vicar of St John's, Clapham, and also served as a Territorial Army chaplain. Then followed 20 years of intensive ministry in Balham as vicar of St Mary's and also, in his final two years, as vicar of the neighbouring St John's. In an area where the Church had experienced serious decline he believed passionately in the traditional approach to ministry - well-ordered worship, vigorous preaching of the difference between good and evil, right and wrong, and pastoral care exercised through regular visiting. He became a much-loved figure in the community.

The contrast between rundown Balham and the affluent City of London could hardly have been greater, but Paul applied the same principles to his new sphere of ministry. The traditional customs and ceremonies of the City greatly appealed to him, and he became chaplain of the Tallow Chandlers, Painters-Stainers, Apothecaries, Vintners, Mercers and several other companies.

On taking on the living of St James Garlickhythe, one of Paul's first decisions was to ensure that the church would be kept open in working hours for people in the City to use.

When the Templeman report in 1994 recommended the closure of St Andrew's, and St James's amalgamation with four new parishes, Paul pointed out that, since the City was a very materialistic place, generating millions of pounds, it had all the more need for a spiritual dimension.

"In a sense the Church of England belongs to everyone in the land, no matter what his religion," he wrote in a letter to The Daily Telegraph. "Anyone in spiritual need has the absolute right to call the local vicar for help and, after more than 40 years' experience, I can tell you they do.

"Market forces may be in order for the commercial world, but there should be no doubt that the application of fashionable notions to eternal truths is bound to leave God's people poverty-stricken. They need a vision of heaven, not a fax outlining the current state of the financial market."

In 1990 Paul accompanied, as chaplain, the Lord Mayor in the annual November procession. Having watched excitedly a documentary film of the Lord Mayor's Show as a boy in Australia, he confessed that he had never dreamt that one day he might himself be riding in that golden coach.

An unusual feature at St Andrew's was the Advanced Sunday School for adults. This was held, unpromisingly for attendance, on Sunday afternoons, but distinguished speakers gave lectures and seminars, and it attracted large audiences, including some of his former parishioners in Balham.

John Paul is survived by his wife Lynette D'archy, two daughters and a son.